


The Horror and the Wild

by Raindropsonwhiskers



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Ace character, Dr Nyarlathotep, Eldritch, Other, POV Original Character, POV Outsider, is this an AU? something post-current-canon? some weird combination of the two?, two horrifying gods chilling in a forest zero feet apart because theyre in love, who knows! (certainly not I!)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:47:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29656386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raindropsonwhiskers/pseuds/Raindropsonwhiskers
Summary: The woods aren't safe - the fools who enter are never seen again. But Lenere is willing to take that risk.
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	The Horror and the Wild

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KairaStar21](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KairaStar21/gifts).



> For Kaira, whose wonderful Dr. Nyarlathotep-y sketches inspired this! And - so I'm told - they were in turn inspired by an album by The Amazing Devil, which is where I yoinked the title from.

There's something strange in the woods, Lenere knows. People go missing when they step off the path. People  _ die, _ if they aren't careful. Hunters avoid the village, knowing they have no chance of catching anything. Not with the way the trees move, the way the darkness creeps after trespassers like something with far more teeth.

But she doesn't have much choice, other than to cross through. Marriage holds no appeal for her, not near as much as a life in the city that the traders speak of does. Going along the trodden path means discovery. And so, carrying only the small satchel of food and a thin blade meant more for cutting bread than flesh, Lenere Allvoris-daughter steps into the forest.

From the moment her foot lands on the soft, springy grass, a shiver runs up her spine. It's the same feeling as when she'd snuck into the old temple on the outskirts of the village as a child - like sacrilege and sin, a thief in the night. For a breath, she considers turning back.

No. No, she will not. The life that awaits her back in the house she slipped out of is not one suited to her, and she would rather her parents bear the heartbreak of a dead daughter than a spinster disappointment. She thinks they would rather it, too. At least this way, she stands a chance at a future that fits like a glove instead of a cast-off.

Slowly, Lenere takes another step, then another. Before long, the village behind her is swallowed up by the trees. It is late, but the moons are full and bright, and the light they shed through tree branches is enough to see by. There is a chill, enough to bite through the heavy cloth covering her skin. She only hopes that the heat of her movement will keep that at bay.

With no way of keeping time, except for her own careful footsteps, she has no idea how long it is before she realizes that there is something following her. Something among - no,  _ within _ the trees, with eyes like the nothingness between the stars and pupils that glow vibrant indigo.

"Hello?" Lenere calls, softly. Her voice is swallowed up by the silver-painted leaves in seconds. "I'm just passing through. I mean you no harm."

The chuckle that ripples outward from the trees at that seems to bypass her ears entirely, settling somewhere low and sickening in her chest that whispers at her to  _ run. _ Deeper even than that is the terror that locks her legs and keeps her standing still.

"Cute," a voice muses. Despite the way the word echoes and overlaps upon itself in strange and horrible ways, despite the prickling condescension of the tone, the accent is like Lenere's own. She doesn't want to wonder whether that's because that  _ being _ used to be human, or because it's mocking her.

A single deliberately loud footstep falls somewhere behind her, and Lenere whirls around. Her hand reaches for the knife, but nervous fingers fumble on the handle, and it falls from her grasp. When she sees the creature before her, she's too stunned to even think to grab it again.

Her first thought is of a deer; she's chased enough of them away from the garden to be more than familiar with their form. But that thought quickly flees as she takes in more than just the branching antlers that sit above the ghoulish, skeletal face. The skull isn't human, not even remotely. Lenere's seen wolf skulls, once, when a pelt-maker came to town for the Snowmelt Faire, and the curving sharpness of the bony teeth reminds her of them. But the glowing pinpricks of purple that fix on her, like a hawk on a mouse, are wholly unique.

Most of the creature's body is covered in dark, thick fur, save for where it fades into elegant fingers of bone. The feet are much the same - heavy fur petering out in favor of bare, gleaming white. Both fingers and toes taper into sharp points, and Lenere knows with shuddering certainty that they are able to draw blood.

The only sound she manages is a squeak. Again, the creature laughs.

"And why do you  _ pass through, _ human?" it asks in that awful, too-familiar accent that warps as it repeats in her head, jaws parting to reveal even more teeth than should be possible to fit in one mouth. "For money, love, or revenge?"

"None of those," Lenere replies, once she has control of her own voice. "I only wish to be free."

"Of your life?" The creature's head tilts, almost curious, to one side. As it does, the arrangement of its antlers changes; some flicker out of sight, while others branch into new forms. "After all, this forest is cursed. No mortal passes through and leaves unscathed."

She picks her words carefully. "In a way. The life I would live if I stayed is not one I want."

"Brave of you," it remarks. "Foolish, but brave."

Lenere stays silent. She would rather not make herself any more of a fool by upsetting the creature.

"Follow." The word is a statement, not a command. A simple placement of a fact into the universe.

With a slowness reminiscent of the movements of the heavens that all the same occurs in mere seconds, the creature turns away from Lenere. It begins to walk away - though its gait is strange enough that she isn't sure it's really  _ walking. _ After a moment to gather her bearings and her courage, she follows.

The trees part for the creature, bending and bowing out of the way with reverence. Lenere has to walk quickly in order to avoid being hit by a branch springing back into place.

Eventually, the creature stops at the edge of a clearing. Looking around it, Lenere can see that the grass and blooming flowers within the open space are more suited to a warm summer day than a brisk autumn night - and so, too, is the golden sunlight that falls on them without a source. Faintly, she can hear someone speaking, but she can't make out the words.

The creature steps forward once more, but Lenere doesn't dare follow suit. Once it's within the clearing, the voice becomes louder.

A delighted shout of "Koschei!" rings out, and where the creature's voice echoes and overlaps, this voice seems to be coming from a thousand mouths all at once. Different accents and timbres blend together to make a bright harmony.

Lenere sees a- well. She isn't quite sure what to call the person running across the clearing with a smile just as toothy as the creature's, but the first thing her mind lands on is  _ deity. _ It's something about the rings of eyes that wreathe their head, something about the near-invisible threads that trail from their wrists and show the clearing in different times at each place they connect.

The beast - Koschei - leans down until its skull is level with the god's own face. Then, gently, it presses its forehead to the god's. Behind them, the threads wriggle mid-air like snakes, time warping from day to night, summer to winter.

After a moment, the pair draws apart. Simultaneously, they turn to look at Lenere.

"One for your care, love," Koschei says to the god.

The god tilts their head, a movement so reminiscent of the one Koschei had made that Lenere is a little startled. Their eyes - both the golden ones on their face and the ones that ring circles around their head - narrow. "What's your name?"

Lenere grew up with tales of what happens when the foolish hero gave his name to the cruel magical beasts. But then, she had also grown up with tales of death lying just beyond the treeline, and she has yet to meet a gristly end.

"My name is Lenere Allvoris-daughter," she answers. "I seek only passage through."

"Then why not take the path?" asks the god. Not mocking, but simply curious.

"I feared discovery," Lenere replies. "I wish to reach the city, but my family does not."

The god hums, a sound that vibrates through the ground and up into Lenere's very core. "Freedom, then. A new life."

"Yes."

A look crosses the god's face, a flicker of warmth as bright as sunlight on snow - and for Lene, just as cold. Any comfort that may lie in the expression is directed only at Koschei.

"Thank you for bringing her," they say. Then they focus on Lenere once more. "I could help, if you would like. Provide an escape to another Time."

They say the word with a kind of  _ power, _ all of their thousand voices splitting apart like threads from a length of yarn on the single, heavy syllable. The timeless spaces between the strings unify to show a single snapshot of the clearing; the flowers remain, but beyond them lies towering buildings of smooth stone. People bustle about in unfamiliar clothing, and elegant triangular shapes dart through the sky.

"What do you say, Lenere Allvoris-daughter?"

She shivers at hearing her name spoken in that infinite voice. Within the strings, the clearing is replaced by a flickering train of images from her life - her childhood all the way through until it reflects her at the very place she stands.

"May I have a moment to think?" she asks.

The god laughs, and the sound goes on forever. "You have every moment you will need."

Lenere chooses to take this as a 'yes'. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

Going will free her from her life here, but she has no way of knowing how different it will be. Staying means a chance of being captured and returned to the restrictions of the future laid out for her. Either way, she puts herself at risk. Either way, there is no  _ good _ choice.

She opens her eyes and prepares to speak.

"You're leaving," the god says, before she can. "I had hoped you would. The future will suit you well."

Lenere stumbles over her words. "I- yes."

With a smile that doesn't quite meet any of their eyes, the god reaches out and taps one elegant finger against empty air. Four glowing blue lines sketch themselves into reality, forming a rectangle in between the god and Lenere. The space within the rectangle melts away to show the same scene that the strings had.

"Step through," the god says.

"There's no undoing this choice," Koschei adds, and its ricocheting voice almost sounds gentle. "You'll have no way back."

"I understand," Lenere says softly. "Thank you."

"Oh, don't thank us yet, Lenere Allvoris-daughter," the god laughs. "You have yet to see what lies beyond."

That should dissuade her. It certainly sounds like a warning. And yet, Lenere doesn't hesitate to step through the door.


End file.
